After a well is drilled and a target reservoir has been encountered, completion and production operations are performed, which may include sand control processes to prevent formation sand, fines, and other particulates from entering production tubing along with a formation fluid. Typically, one or more sand screens may be installed along the formation fluid flow path between production tubing and the surrounding reservoir. Additionally, the annulus formed between the production tubing and the casing (if a cased hole) or the formation (if an open hole) may be packed with a relatively coarse sand or gravel during gravel packing operations to filter the sand from the formation fluid. This coarse sand or gravel also supports the borehole in uncased holes and prevents the formation from collapsing into the annulus.
Generally, gravel packing operations include placing a lower completion assembly downhole within the target reservoir. The lower completion assembly may include one or more screens along the production tubing that is disposed between packer assemblies. After the lower completion assembly is placed in the desired location downhole, the packer assemblies are set (e.g., expanding or swelling the packer) to define zones within the annulus.
Often, a packer in the packer assembly includes rubber elements, which may be incompatible with certain downhole fluids. Additionally, the stiffness of rubber elements are often dependent on localized temperatures downhole, which may limit the completion operations.
The present disclosure is directed to a packer assembly that includes a lattice seal that addresses one or more of the foregoing issues.